Sunflower

Abstract

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an important oilseed crop which competes in the “world oilseed complex” with three other major oilseeds viz., soybean, groundnut and rapeseed. In 2010, global area under sunflower cultivation was about 23 million hectares and the production was about 30 million tonnes with an average productivity of 1322.6 kg/ha (Table 1; FAOSTAT). An introduced crop in India in early 1970s, sunflower has become an important oilseed crops with 1 million hectares under its cultivation (Table 2). In 2000-01, Karnataka (45%), Maharashtra (31%) and Andhra Pradesh (18%) were the leading states, which covered almost 94 per cent of total acreage of sunflower in India. In contrast, during 2009-10, Karnataka accounted for 54 per cent followed by Andhra Pradesh with 24 per cent (Table 3). A substantial reduction in sunflower area has occurred in Maharashtra between 2001 (31%) and 2009 (15%). The analysis of growth rates of sunflower during the past decade in the country indicates clear signals of deceleration in the area and production (Vision 2030, DOR; Nayak et al. 2010). The crop, hitherto confined to southern parts of India, has made inroads into non-traditional areas such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh as spring/summer crop during the last decade.